There’s an abundance of choice among Motorola
smartphones in 2020. The Lenovo-owned
company might be headlined by the new Razr
and budget staple G line, but there are plenty of other
options. Among the most interesting is the One range,
affordable handsets which focus on a specific feature
in order maximize its impact.
The Motorola One Macro puts emphasis on, you
guessed it, macro photography. Few phones focus
heavily on extreme close-up shots, so it’s a sure-fire
way to stand out from the crowd.
But is it able to deliver the complete smartphone
experience that Motorola users demand?
Design
I’m really impressed by the design of the Motorola
One Macro. Despite having a plastic back, it looks and
feels like a premium device. This choice of materials
also makes it lighter, less resistant to fingerprints and
easier to grip case-free than an all-glass phone.
There’s no getting away from the fact that the front
of this phone looks like dozens of other handsets on
the market, complete with a teardrop notch (housing
the front-facing camera) and fairly sizeable chin. While
the 81.3 percent screen-to-body ratio is perfectly
Three rear cameras are arranged
vertically, while the Motorola
logo is cleverly built-in to the
physical fingerprint scanner
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acceptable, I would have happily traded the notch
for a slightly larger top bezel.
The screen itself is a 6.2in, 1,520x720 LCD panel.
This sounds disappointing on paper, but the recent
iPhones have proven that lower resolution displays
are far from a dealbreaker.
The back of the phone is undoubtedly more
exciting to look at. While it only comes in a single
Space Blue variant, this colour gradient looks stunning.
It’s helped by there being very little else going
on on the back of the phone. Triple rear cameras
are arranged vertically, while the Motorola logo is
cleverly built into the physical fingerprint scanner.
This gives the device a clean look and feel without
the need for excessive branding.
I’m a big fan of the textured power button, which
is positioned just below the volume rocker on the
right side of the device. All the physical buttons
remain tactile and responsive, even when using
the supplied clear plastic case. It’s good to see
Motorola retain the 3.5mm headphone jack, an all
too rare feature of modern handsets. Charging is
via USB-C too, with the port positioned next to a
mono downward-firing speaker, which produces
a surprisingly rich and full-bodied sound.
Hardware and performance
There are plenty of positives design-wise, and
I’m pleased to report it’s a similar situation on
performance. Motorola has gone with the MediaTek
Helio P70 processor, as opposed to something from
industry-standard Qualcomm’s Snapdragon line.
However, combining this with a Mali-G72 CPU
means the One Macro is able to handle everyday
tasks without any issue whatsoever.
Of course, the benchmarks all our phones are
tested on provide situations which you might not
regularly experience. They aim to test devices to their
limits, and the results show how the likes of Xiaomi
and Oppo have really pushed the boundaries on
what’s capable with regards to processing power.
Mobile gaming was an area where the One Macro
fell short a little. Most games were more than playable,
but we did encounter some stuttering and lag when
playing graphic-intensive title.
This is a minor issue though, and for most people,
the One Macro’s general performance will be more
than up to scratch.
Software and features
As with all phones in the Motorola One line, the One
Macro comes running an almost stock version of
Android. In this case it’s Android 9 Pie, although we
have no word on whether it will get the upgrade to
Android 10.
I’ve been bemoaning the heavy Android skins in
recent phone reviews, so this is a welcome change.
Motorola endeavours to produce as little bloatware as
possible, so there’s no duplicate email clients, calendar
apps or utilities. Of course there remains the option to
download third-party alternatives via the Google Play
Store, the way I’d prefer it to be on all phones.
The only notable addition when compared to
Pixel devices is the Moto app, although this feels
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The home screen’s
default clock widget
also displays the
phone’s battery level
genuinely useful. In here you’ll find various shortcuts
and gestures, as well more control over the way the
display responds to you.
There are also useful software quirks throughout
Motorola’s interpretation of Android. One of my
favourites is the default clock widget on the home
screen, which displays the current weather and date
in addition to the time. However, tapping each part
of the widget will take you to the relevant app: the
time goes to the Clock, date to Google Calendar and
weather to the weather app.
What’s more, the circle all this information is
housed in acts as a quick overview of your current
level of battery. I’m glad that’s here, as the battery
percentage in the notification bar is barely legible.
There’s a similar design to the always-on display,
although this can’t be customized like on other
phones. As I mentioned earlier, there are two
biometric options for unlocking your phone in
addition to the regular PIN, password or swipe gesture.
The face unlock is fine, if a little slow compared to
rivals, so I’d recommend using the fingerprint scanner
most of the time. This is fast, secure and reliable, and
can also be used as payment authentication. I enrolled
the same fingerprint twice for maximum reliability, and
never had issues with it not recognizing me.
Cameras
As the name implies, the Motorola One Macro places
an emphasis on close-up photography. In order to
achieve this, it has a dedicated 2Mp macro lens in
addition to the regular 13Mp camera and 2Mp depth
sensor. This means there’s no telephoto or ultra-wide
sensors, which greatly reduces the camera’s flexibility.
I’m obliged to talk about the quality of shots in
the macro mode here, and I have to say I was very
impressed. Few phones I’ve tested have been able to
capture this amount of detail at such close proximity.
While it can be a bit hit-and-miss, flowers were a
particular highlight, with the vibrant colours popping.
Being this close to the subject creates a natural bokeh
effect in the background, which is pleasing on the eye.
I was also impressed with the software-based
portrait mode. The One Macro allows you to
customize the amount of background blur in each
shot before you take it, although there is no option to
adjust this after the shot is taken.
Regular shots also have a good level of detail and
balanced colours, though they tend to be lacking in
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dynamic range. Don’t be fooled by what you see in
the viewfinder before you take the picture though, as
the software processing means you always get a more
pleasing end result.
Selfies are decent too, with the 8Mp front-facing
camera producing a solid amount of detail. However,
colours seem a little washed out at times, and it also
has a tendency to overexpose the backgrounds. Many
of my tests were carried out in bright environments
though, so that may have had an effect.
The One Macro can record up to 1080p video at
30fps. This is pretty standard for modern smartphones,
although the lack of image stabilization makes
footage look particularly juddery with any significant
movement. While it’s nice to be able to save separate
stills mid-video, these are often lacking in detail and
regularly unusable.
Battery life
The battery life on the One Macro is solid if not
spectacular. It easily lasts a day and a half of moderate
usage, but I was hoping for a little more considering
the 4000mAh battery and low resolution display.
Nonetheless, it recorded an above average 9 hours
Low light shot
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REVIEWS
and 30 minutes in Geekbench 4’s battery test, and
standby time is excellent even with the addition of
an always on display. It can’t rival the likes of the
Moto G7 Power for pure battery life, but I can’t
imagine you’ll have any issues here.
Verdict
The Motorola One Macro is the first non-Chinese
budget phone I’ve been excited about in a while. The
software experience and everyday performance is
superb, meaning the user experience is among the
best in recent memory.
Compromises are inevitable at this price point, and
the slightly erratic cameras and uninspiring front of
the phone knock it down a few points. As such, other
options in our best budget smartphone chart offer
The Macro One comes
with Andorid 9.0
a more complete package, but there are few better
phones if you’re looking for stock Android under £200.
Specifications
• 6.2in (1,520x720; 270ppi) IPS LCD capacitive
touchscreen
• Android 9.0 Pie
• Mediatek MT6771 Helio P70 (12nm) processor
• Octa-core (4x 2GHz Cortex-A73 and 4x 2GHz
Cortex-A53) CPU
• Mali-G72 MP3 GPU
• 4GB RAM
• 64GB storage (microSDXC slot)
• Three rear-facing cameras: 13Mp, f/2.0, (wide),
1/3.1in, 1.12μm, PDAF, Laser AF; 2Mp, f/2.2, (macro),
1/5.0in, 1.75μm; 2Mp, f/2.2, (depth)
• Selfie camera: 8Mp, f/2.2, 1/4in, 1.12μm
• 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 4.2, A2DP, LE
• A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
• Infrared port
• Fingerprint scanner (rear mounted)
• USB 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB
On-The-Go
• Non-removable 4,000mAh lithium-polymer battery
• 157.6x75.4x9mm
• 186g
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